Two Island Kayak Trip and Quick Escape Report

October 2005

This fall I was lucky enough to have two groups who wanted explore the islands. The first group was comprised of some of the regulars, including Rich Hall, John Wooldridge, Bill Ulrich and Lew Riffle and a few newcomers, Patty Miller, her sister Margie, and their friend Peter Lunk. And I had a group of buddies, organized by Steve Fechner, who returned after three years, for  a Quick Escape-a half week trip to Espiritu Santo. As usual, the camaraderie was the most fun element of the trips. As I have always said-anyone who signs up to go kayak fishing in the Sea of Cortez is a true adventurer! Pictured below from left to right is our camp on San Francisco Island, Lew with a nice needle, Rich casting inside the mangrove tidal river, me (Gary) with a golden trevally, Patty hooked up to a skipjack, Bill with a skippy, Patty and Margie taking the plunge with the sea lions at Los Islotes, and a typical last cast shot.

Baby roosters were ready to take the fly inside the lagoon, as were the barred pargo (Bill brings home dinner -below left), a few jack crevalle (toro) and lots of mangrove snappers. And Alvaro kept us excited about meals by serving up plenty of fresh seafood, fruit, beans, rice, and margaritas.

 The second week we had a little better luck hooking into some large skipjack consistently. A few dorado were caught in the bay in front of camp at Espiritu Santo and everyone got to enjoy a Baja Sleigh Ride. We caught barracuda, triggers, green jacks and yellowtail snappers also. These guys have traveled together for years and know how to have a good time.  We dove at Los Islotes and saw a school of manta rays cruising by in perfect formation. Green turtles surfaced twice in two days right next to my yak. And one evening a large moray eel cruised our beach and we fed  fish scraps to it. With our boat captain's help (we are not allowed to take shellfish as foreigners) we dove for clams and scallops, which are incredibly delicious raw with a little lime juice and hot sauce on them. On the last day we hiked up to the well at Candelera Bay and poured fresh water over each other and marveled at the rock formations. It  was all way too much fun and I can't wait until May 2006 to return to these beautiful islands and more adventures.

2003-2005 copyright gary bulla